Sen. John McCain said members of the Trump administration should be held “partially to blame” for the Syrian poison gas attack because of comments made about President Bashar al-Assad.

Referring to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who remarked “the longer-term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people,” McCain (R-Ariz.) said ​that ​may have given the Syrian dictator ​the idea that America was taking a hands-off approach.

“And Secretary Tillerson basically saying the same thing after kind of contradicting himself and then saying the same thing argues vigorously for a plan and a strategy,” McCain said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “As I said again, taking this action I support and was important.”

But he warned against a “one-time deal” and argued Assad’s murderous behavior goes beyond ​using chemical weapons against his people.

“A very small percentage of the people who have been slaughtered in Syria have been slaughtered by chemical weapons,” McCain said. “It’s been done by barrel bombs and indiscriminate killing and all the other war crimes that have been committed.”

McCain also said he disagrees with Tillerson’s contention that the US has to deal with Assad before it can fight ​terrorists in ​Syria and Iraq​, acknowledging “we can walk and chew gum.”

He said Assad and the terror group are connected.

“We will take Mosul,” he said. “We will take Raqqa. And we’d better have strategies as to how to handle those places once we have won it. But they’re not disconnected from Bashar Assad and the Al Qaeda – the war crimes that have been taking place.”